Russian general calls message about his involvement in the MH17 air disaster 'stupidity'

Saturday, December 9, 2017 12:09:30 PM

Retired Colonel-General Nikolai Tkachev has called information that he may have been involved in the crash of the MH17 flight in the airspace over the Donbas in 2014 "stupidity", reports TASS.

"I do not know who’s saying that, but it's obvious stupidity. I have lived in Yekaterinburg for many years; I have been engaged in military-patriotic education of children. I am in constant contact with public organizations, participate in various public events, and am always under watch by the media," Tkachev said.

The international investigative team conducting the investigation into the Malaysian MH17 flight disaster, which took place in the airspace over the Donbas, has promised to take into account data from the Bellingcat investigative group and the Russian magazine The Insider showing that the Russian Colonel-General may be a defendant in the case. A message on the website of the Prosecutor's Office of the Netherlands states that the experts’ information has been introduced to the investigation. The investigation has refused other commentary.

On December 8, an international group of Bellingcat investigators and the Russian edition of The Insider published a joint investigation identifying one of the key figures potentially involved in the shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing aircraft over the Donbas that occurred in July 2014. Experts argue that the person operating under the pseudonym "Dolphin" is Nikolai Tkachev, a retired Colonel-General of the Russian Army and current Chief Inspector of the Central Military District of the Russian Defense Ministry.